Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a 4th generation (4G) of radio technologies designed to increase the capacity and speed of mobile telephone networks and provides for an end-to-end Internet Protocol (IP) service delivery of media. Currently, LTE comprises a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), which is described in a suite of Technical Specifications (TS) developed within and published by 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), with the most recent version of the 3GPP TSs being published in March 2010 as a revised “Release 9” (with Release 10 currently being developed).
LTE, in part, provides for a flat IP-based network architecture designed to ensure support for, and mobility between, some legacy or non-3GPP systems such as, for instance, GPRS (general packet radio service) and WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access). Some of the main advantages with LTE are high throughput, low latency, plug and play, FDD (frequency-division duplexing) and TDD (time-division duplexing) in the same platform, improved end user experience, simple architecture resulting in low operating costs, and interoperability with older standard wireless technologies such as GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications), cdmaOne™, W-CDMA (UMTS), and CDMA2000®.
Most major carriers in the United States (US) and several worldwide carriers began plans to convert their networks to LTE beginning in 2010. In addition, state and local public safety agencies in the US (including US Intelligence Services) have endorsed LTE as the preferred technology for the new 700 MHz public safety radio band. Moreover, multiple public safety agencies (and/or enterprises other than public safety) may share a home LTE system for, among other reasons, cost effectiveness, wherein each separate enterprise is associated with a different enterprise operating area (EOA) in the shared LTE system. In addition, multiple public safety agencies or enterprises having different enterprise operating areas in one or more LTE systems may have responders that provide mutual aid for a visited enterprise operating area.
Thus, there exists a need for location based policy for user equipment operating in different enterprise operating areas of a shared home Long Term Evolution system and there exists a need for policy determination for user equipment providing mutual aid in a visited enterprise operating area of a Long Term Evolution system.
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